


Forces Assemble

by Chibi_Pix



Series: Forces of Voltron [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Galra Keith (Voltron), galra soldiers - Freeform, minor appearance of Adam (Voltron), minor appearance of Iverson (Voltron), rated t for some language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29221446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibi_Pix/pseuds/Chibi_Pix
Summary: Before Voltron was formed by Shiro, Keith, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge, the team would first have to come together.One night, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk decide to study outside. When Pidge picks up on some new signals, she and her friends and fellow cadets are sent on an impromptu adventure out in the desert to search for the signal that could lead them to Voltron. What they don't expect is for things to take a turn and for their adventure to go beyond a desert.
Series: Forces of Voltron [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145498
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	1. "You drank the cactus juice, didn't you?"

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a prequel to [A Meeting of Forces](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26934625/chapters/65734768). While it is a prequel, it was actually written after. You can read either of them in either order.

A long time ago, an Altean researcher, alchemist, and king named Alfor had created the five lions of Voltron. He along with his four greatest allies and friends, piloted those lions, becoming the paladins. When the universe was in need, they came together by a mysterious force, the lions forming and coming together to become Voltron, the defender of the universe.

The Galran emperor, Zarkon, grew greedy and corrupt. He wanted power and control. He wanted the lions and Voltron for himself. To protect the universe, Alfor decided to hide the lions away, sending four to varying galaxies and one, the black lion, with the castle, hidden on another planet and far from Zarkon. With the lion, he left his only child, Princess Allura, and his greatest adviser, friend, and supporter, Coran, having them both sealed in cryopods so that they could one day wake up and be safe. And find the next paladins.

What Alfor could never imagine, though, was that it would take a thousand years for the next paladins to rise up. He hoped, by some miracle, he could stop Zarkon before then, but he perished at the emperor’s sword. The remaining paladins also fell battle. But with them, they took the knowledge of the lions’ whereabouts.

Zarkon, though, would search for a thousand years. As he searched, he continued his conquest, taking over vast sections of the known universe. To ensure some would not rise up against him, he even set out to obliterate other races, especially the Alteans. He made sure to wipe out every last one of them to the best of his ability.

“Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Beginning descent to Kerberos for rescue mission.” the pilot named Lance spoke. He was a human in the Galaxy Garrison, a military and exploration base located on Earth. He was leading his mission. He looked around when the ship shook. “Hunk, what’s our status?”

“We have a hydraulic stabilizer malfunctioning.” Hunk, the engineer on the team, reported. He then covered his mouth. “Oh. Oh no.”

“No, no no no! Hunk, fix this now and get sick later.” Lance looked a little panicked.

“But I… oh...”

“Hunk, use this.” Pidge handed Hunk a bag to get sick in. She then cringed when she heard him retch, emptying the contents of his stomach into the bag. In the team, Pidge was the communications technician. Though a girl, most people mistook her for a boy. She didn’t go out of her way to correct them, though, not caring what pronoun others used for her. “Lance, I’m picking up on a distress beacon, but the shaking is causing too much interference for us to lock onto it.”

“Hunk, any moment now.”

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Hunk removed his protective restraints and went to the gearbox, unable to work with it from his console. “Okay, let’s do this, loosen that...”

“And the shaking has stopped. Good work, Hunk.” Lance praised as the engineer returned to his seat. “Pidge, hail down to them and let them know their ride is here. We’ll approach upon visual.”

“Copy that.” Pidge had to undo her restraints to get the radio; curse her short arms and stature. “Attention lunar vessel, this is GG rescue craft One Victor Six Three Tango. We’re coming in for a landing and extraction.” She then turned her head. “Lance! Look ahead! There’s an overhang!”

“Don’t worry so much!” Lance hummed. “You wanna know what they called me back in flight school? The _Tailor_ because of how I thread the needle.” He then looked ahead. “C’mon baby, you can do this!” He yelped when they struck something and the ship shook.

“We lost a wing!” Hunk announced.

“Ah crap...” Lance grumbled right before crashing.

**“Simulation Failed.”** a mechanical voice said as the words showed up in bright red print on the HUD and front shielding.

“Lance… maybe you should stick with being a literal tailor and sewing… not slipping through small spaces in a space craft...” Pidge sighed.

They all looked back when the back hatch opened up and they saw one of their teachers, Professor Adam Wagner, standing there. “Okay, cadets, get your rears out here.” he sighed. The trio went out and stood in a line in front of him and their commander, Mitch Iverson. “Well then, anyone want to tell us what went wrong.”

“The pilot crashed.” one of the other cadets said, her hand quickly going up.

“Indeed.” Adam nodded. He looked to Iverson.

“Cadets like you are learning to fly for missions. Rescue. Transport. Even defense one day. However, the field in which you’ll be working in one day is no place to mess around and show off.” Iverson’s good eye narrowed on Lance. “Showing off leads to mistakes. Mistakes like what led to the Kerberos mission failure.” He sighed. “You three are dismissed. Next group.”

Lance grumbled as he sat on the bottom bunk in Pidge’s room. With Pidge having no roommate, it was easy to hang out in her room to study and sit anywhere. At least anywhere there was a clear spot since it was an utter mess. “Ugh! Did he have to call me out like that in the middle of class? Isn’t it bad enough I failed the simulator?”

“The school year’s just begun; everyone fails now and then.” Pidge commented.

“Easy for you to say; this is your first year. Hunk and I’ve been training for the past two years.” Lance grumbled. “Which has me thinking. You’re only fifteen. How did you get put into this division of training? Shouldn’t you be only in beginner summer courses?” He looked skeptical. “Professor Gunderson wouldn’t pull strings, that’s not what she does.”

“Because of my grades and the entrance exam I took.” Pidge stated. “The Garrison board actually thought I cheated because it was perfect. They had me take it two more times to prove I wasn’t cheating. I did so well, they felt it was a good idea to put me in with you guys, even if you are like two years older.” She shrugged. “No biggie.”

“Yes biggie! No one gets a perfect score!” Lance yelped, stunned.

“Really? Because one other person at another base had the same scores I did. And he had to go through the test a few times, too.” Pidge grinned brightly. “Oh! I’d love to meet him one day! A fellow genius? Right up my alley.”

Lance chuckled a bit. “Yeah, rub it into our faces that you’re so smart.” He smiled. “Now, come here genius. I’m trying to make heads or tails of this and their wording sucks...”

Pidge nodded and stood up and stretched. “Hmm, maybe we should study outside. It’s a nice night.” She smiled. “What do you think?”

“Some fresh air would make studying better, huh?” Lance suggested.

“I’ll pack up the snacks.” Hunk stood up from the table he sat at and gathered their snacks of chips, crackers, candy, preservative filled cakes, and Pidge’s surplus of peanut butter and peanut butter cookies. Once they were packed and ready, they moved their group up to the roof. A couple teachers they passed questioned them, but they were let go.

“Ah! Now this is better!” Lance cheered as he sat down. “This is good for the brain to study.” He stretched out. “Or just relax.” He looked up at the sky, the stars as bright as ever. Though a military base, they weren’t in the city and there was less light pollution.

“Lance, we should be studying.” Hunk set out the snacks and then his books.

“Ugh...” Lance flopped back and laid on the roof. “The manuals I have to read suck… who the hell even thinks like this?”

Pidge picked up his book, looking it over. “Well, my mind thinks like this to some degree.” she commented. “But I see the issue.” She skimmed over the instructions and information, coming up with how best to teach Lance. “In all honesty, given your way of learning, they’re better off coming up with another simulator. You do best through actions. Hands-on learning.” She thought it over. “I wonder if I can build a VR video game.”

“Ooh, that’d be cool. I like VR.” Lance smiled. “Should’ve seen me with the arcade. I did great at shooter games.”

“Next time we go to Plaht City, we should hit the arcade then.” Pidge smirked. She then looked over to the computer she had set up, always bringing it up with her when she went to study on the roof. It started beeping. “Whoa! Hold all thoughts!” She tossed Lance’s book over to him and went to her computer, checking on it. “I’m getting signals!”

“Um… what?” Lance rolled over onto his stomach. “On that hunk of junk?”

“It may look like junk, but it’s better than any Garrison computer.” Pidge informed her teammate. “Anyway, for a few years now, I’ve been tracking some strange signals and picking up on transmissions. Some things have been hard to translate, but...” She went through her backpack and grabbed a notebook, showing her drawings and notes. “The main thing that keeps coming up is _Voltron_ , which I think they’re referring to as a weapon.” She smiled. “I’ve been picking up some things on occasion, mainly this strange signal, for years. But the chatter was more active this past year. Since the Kerberos mission.”

“Why the last year?” Hunk asked.

“Because, I don’t think it was pilot error.” Pidge had an eerily mischievous grin. “I think they were abducted by aliens.”

“Wait… so Shiro could still be alive?” Lance looked amazed. Hopeful? He admired Shiro, the man was practically a hero to many, especially Lance. But aliens? Really? He didn’t want to get his hopes too high.

“It’s probable. But… this signal...” Pidge was perplexed.

“Hmm… doesn’t it look like a Fraunhofer line?” Hunk leaned in, examining the signal and sequence. He took Pidge’s notebook and started on another page, drawing out a line. “See?”

“Um… to those of us who don’t speak valedictorian?” Lance asked, raising his hand some as he got up and joined the other two at the computer.

“It’s a number describing the emission of an element.” Hunk responded. “But it doesn’t match any ones I recognize from Earth… you think it could be this Voltron thing?”

“Of course!” Pidge grinned brightly. “That makes sense! If they’re looking for Voltron, it understandably may not be of Earth, therefore it wouldn’t match our own elements.” She looked so excited. “We’ve gotta go find it!”

“Wait… what?” Hunk backed up. “Dude, are you serious? Find this?”

“Of course.” Pidge smirked. “And we can use that Geiger counter you were working on as a side project, input the code to find it.”

“You know what, I’m skeptical of this alien stuff, but even I’m interested.” Lance mused, smiling brightly. “C’mon, buddy, let’s do this. It beats studying.”

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” Hunk let out a long sigh. “Okay, even if we could use the Geiger counter… then what? Wander aimlessly around the desert? The Garrison finds us, we’re spending the next three months in detention. The Garrison doesn’t find us, we’re going to be buzzard food.”

“Don’t worry, Hunk, I’ve got us covered so we’re not just walking around.” Pidge assured. She then had that mischievous grin that made others consider her a little gremlin. “Besides, where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Probably in the detention room from last time.” Lance snickered.

“Definitely in the detention room from last time.” Hunk confirmed. He then looked a little curious but mainly skeptical. “You don’t plan on stealing one of the vehicles, right?”

It wasn’t exactly stealing when she technically owned the hoverbike. However, Pidge wasn’t supposed to take it out without authorization, especially from her mother. But desperate times called for desperate measures and following a signal to a potential alien finding was the perfect time. Pidge drove them out into the desert, Hunk at the back of the bike and giving her directions to make sure she was following the elemental signature.

“Pidge, you do realize your mom is going to ground you, right?” Hunk asked.

“Probably.” Pidge stated. “Or, if our find is perfect, she’ll reconsider.”

“Hopefully that means everyone would reconsider expelling us...” Hunk sighed.

“Don’t worry so much, Hunk, we’ll be fine.” Lance assured.

Pidge kept on driving until Hunk pointed out that they were practically on top of the signal. She came to a stop in front of some caves.

“Oh man… it’s pretty dark in there...” Hunk mumbled. “Did we remember flashlights?”

Pidge went through her backpack. “Hmm, phone, music player and headphones, duct tape, snacks, juice, computer, collapsible staff, lock picks, lighter, gum, keys, sunscreen, mini first-aid kit, antihistamine, small water gun, d20, chap stick, pocket knife, mini tool kit, crayons, coloured pencils, pens, sharpie, notebook… huh. You’d think I’d have remembered my flashlight.” She closed up her pack. “I mean, I can use the phone but...”

“Pidge… are you secretly a game character with that sort of inventory?” Lance inquired.

“No. Still haven’t gotten a collapsible bike to put in my bag. Once I get that, then you can officially call me such.” Pidge responded. She hopped off the bike. “We can probably wait until first light to go in.”

“Wait… you mean we’re going to… camp out here?” Hunk questioned, looking worried.

“Of course not. Camping implies we’ll be sleeping.” Pidge stated. “We can study.”

“Aw man...” Lance sighed. He then looked up at the stars. No light pollution. “Whoa.” he gasped out, seeing the view. “It’s so pretty.”

Pidge smiled. “We could always stargaze.” She moved and sat down on the ground before laying back. The others seemed to be in agreement with that.

“Do you really think there could be aliens out there?” Hunk asked.

“The universe is vast with what is assumed to be approximately two hundred billion galaxies.” Pidge stated. “We can’t possibly be the only one with sentient life such as ourselves in it.”

“That makes sense.” Hunk nodded. “Sometimes it’s hard to believe how big the universe is. And we’re just a tiny speck…”

“Kinda makes me feel insignificant...” Lance muttered.

“I think we’re kinda special. In our system alone, we exist. From Mercury to Pluto, no other planet has been found with life yet. So… I dunno. I think we’re special.” Pidge mused. She held her hand up as though to reach for the stars. “I’d like to go up there one day and meet aliens.”

“Yeah but… weren’t you thinking of the Kerberos team being abducted?” Hunk sat up and looked over. “What if you meet others who are bad?”

“There’s no saying the ones they met were bad.” Pidge stated. “But there’s no saying they were good, either. I guess if it comes to it, I’ll figure out what to do.”

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk didn’t expect to fall asleep on the ground, but they did. When the sun was rising, they were barely stirring. What really caught their attention was Pidge’s phone ringing in her bag. Grumbling, Pidge grabbed her bag and checked it.

“Crap, twenty missed calls?” Pidge’s eyes widened. “Mom is going to kill me...”

“You think.” Lance sat up and stretched. “Wait, she was calling us?” He looked over.

“And texting.” Pidge checked the messages. Her mother was worried, constantly asking where she was and making sure Lance and Hunk were with her since they were missing, too. She decided to text back, letting her know that they were fine and together. She informed her that they went on an impromptu adventure and accidentally camped outside.

“You’re not telling her about this Voltron thing?” Hunk inquired.

“Not yet. Mom will be a little bit understanding at an adventure.” Pidge stated. “She always told me it was hard to keep me in one place, even though I hated the outdoors with my allergies and severe reaction to poison oak and bug bites.” She went to put her phone away before jumping when there was a crackling in the sky. She knew the sound for the most part, but it sounded bigger. And like there was more.

“Did that sound like a ship entering the atmosphere to anyone else?” Hunk asked.

“Oh good, I wasn’t the only one thinking that.” Lance confirmed. He then looked up when he saw ships in view, dotting along the sky. “Um… guys? Are you seeing what I’m seeing or are we still tired? Did we drink cactus juice without knowing?”

“Holy shit… aliens...” Pidge swore as her glasses slid down her nose in a comical manner.


	2. Definitely Not Friendly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge, Lance, and Hunk could only continue with their search when they see their planet being invaded by aliens. Hoping to find the source of the signal, they are led further and further on the, according to Hunk, worst study session ever.

The three teens stared in shock when they saw the alien spaceships dotting the sky. Sure, the probability of aliens existing was there, but suddenly having not one but dozens of ships? And that was just what they saw in front of them. For all they knew, there could have been hundreds or even thousands around the world.

“Okay… what are the odds that these are friendly ones?” Hunk asked, looking worried but hopeful.

“That many ships?” Lance had the _are you serious_ look on his face. Then came the first strike, a shot fired in the direction of the Garrison. “Okay, that is definitely not friendly!”

“Yup! Definitely not!” Hunk yelped. He then spotted smaller ships zip past overhead. “What are...”

“I’ve seen enough movies to know they’re probably scouting.” Pidge responded, worried. “They could be looking for the same signal we were trailing.”

“And them getting this Voltron thing would be bad?” Hunk asked.

“Probably. C’mon.” Pidge ran off into the cave, her phone out and using what it had available for a flashlight to help. “I don’t thing the Geiger counter will help much after this point, so we need to be careful and keep our eyes open.”

“Huh? What are these?” Hunk went to one of the walls of the cave, seeing carvings. He brushed away dust to reveal some more. “Carvings of cats? Leopards maybe? Lioness? Mountain cat?”

“I recognize these, they were in several issues of my cryptid magazines. I didn’t realize they were this close since the author didn’t disclose the location.” Pidge admitted. “I figured somewhere in Africa since the author called them lion carvings.”

“Why am I not surprised that you get cryptid magazines?” Lance inquired.

“You have seen that mothman poster in his room. And big foot. And the Loch Ness monster.” Hunk reminded.

“Oh. Right.”

“I don’t just get the magazines, I have subscriptions to two different ones, one being weekly, the other being monthly.” Pidge didn’t mind admitting that. “They’re pretty cool.”

“Okay, so lion carvings… and this is where the signal is?” Lance looked curious. “I wonder if they’re connected.”

“Is that even possible?” Hunk asked.

“There’s an alien invasion going on; at this point, everything is possible.” Lance responded as he gently put his hand on a carving to wipe away more dust. He then backed up when it started to glow blue. All around them, the other carvings started glowing.

“Lance, what did you do?” Pidge demanded.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear!” Lance whined. “I only touched a carving!”

There was a cracking noise beneath them. Then it broke way and the trio of friends fell. The good news was that the fall wasn’t exactly painful. The tunnel beneath them sloped and they went down what seemed like a water slide. They landed in a pool of water at the bottom of another cave; though soaked, they were thankful it was deep enough that they didn’t get hurt.

“I am so glad my backpack is waterproof and keeps water out.” Pidge commented as she stood up and removed her bag, holding it above her head. “And my phone is waterproof, too.”

“I like water slides as much as the next person but… let’s not do that again.” Hunk got his footing and fully stood; he then shook his hair out. “What was that even?”

“Um… guys?” Lance looked ahead of them as he situated himself. “I think I know why those carvings were up top.” He looked to see a massive, mechanical, blue creature with feline resemblance. It sat within a forcefield of sorts, waiting silently. “Whoa...”

“Is that it? Is that the Voltron?” Hunk inquired.

“It has to be.” Pidge waded through the water, cursing the fact that she was short. Bigger and helpful, Hunk picked her up and carried her out, able to wade through more easily. “Thanks.” She put her backpack back on and ran ahead. “Whoa.” She put her hands on the protective field around it. “I wonder if there’s a way we can get in.”

“Maybe we just knock?” Lance inquired.

“You want my d20 to roll for that?” Pidge chuckled a bit.

“Hey, it could work.”

“If it works, I’ll give you my last s’mor flavoured granola bar.”

“Deal.” Lance knocked on the barrier. To their surprise, it actually worked and it came down. But more than that, the trio was met with a sort of vision, seeing images of lions, five of them in different colours, coming together and forming a massive robot. “Dude… did anyone just...” He held out his hand as Pidge handed over the granola bar.

“Voltron! He’s a hug robot! Huge and awesome!” Hunk exclaimed. “That’s both amazing and frightening!”

“And this is only one of them; the other four… I wonder where they are.” Pidge mused. “But either way, this could be what those invaders are looking for.” She then yelped when the mechanical beast moved, standing up on all fours. Then it lowered its head, opening its mouth. She wasn’t the only one startled since Hunk tried to hide behind her. “Um...”

“I think… it wants us to go in.” Lance stared. “It feels like it’s calling to us...”

“Wait… what?” Hunk looked over. “Us? Get gobbled up by a mechanical cat?” He then cried out when he heard some sort of weapon fire at them. Looking back, he could see humanoid figures clad in a sort of armored uniforms fire at them. Or were they robots? He didn’t question it much as he just scooped up Pidge and Lance, one under each arm. “Mecha cat it is!” he shouted as he ran up the ramp in the mouth and went inside. Once in, the lion closed its mouth and sat up, the barrier forming once again.

“Okay, if we ever had any doubts about these guys being hostile, I think they shot holes into that.” Pidge commented. “So now we’re in a lion of Voltron. Got it. But now what? We can’t just hide out in here, can we?”

“I don’t...” Lance looked around. He felt the call again. “I think I might know something?” He wasn’t sure. He went further in until he found himself someplace that reminded him of a cockpit. He moved over and sat in the chair, yelping in surprise when it went forward and to the controls. “Okay, that’s a thing.”

“So… it’s a ship. Got it.” Pidge looked around as she and Hunk entered as well. She looked down to see whoever was shooting at them. “They could be calling for backup...”

“This isn’t good...” Lance muttered. He listened more. It felt like he heard a sort of purr in the back of his mind as words formed around them. “I think… I think it wants us to leave.”

“Leave? As in the cave? Earth?” Hunk looked worried. “But the others...”

“And those invaders are after this… we can’t let them have it.” Lance commented. He took the controls. “Well?”

Hunk sighed. “Oh man… this is the worst study session ever...” He then nodded. “Okay. If we gotta get this thing away...”

“We’re with you, Lance.” Pidge assured, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Okay. I sure hope your mom reconsiders grounding us all after this.” Lance pushed on the controls, making the lion leap forward and over those on the cave floor. He then got the lion to burst out of the cave and fly off. It took a moment for him to adjust, figuring out how to fly the lion, but he thought he had it figured out. Of course, figuring things out didn’t change the situation.

Some of the alien ships were following them. “And now they’re following us. Oh boy, this is not good.” Lance exclaimed. “What do we do?”

“Fly faster?” Pidge asked. “Maybe if we escape, they’ll leave Earth alone, wanting to get the lion.”

“But we can’t live on the run.” Hunk chimed.

“Better than the alternative.” Pidge reminded. No one could argue with that. “So for now...”

“Yup, I’ll try to go faster.” Lance pushed the controls more, getting the blue lion to speed up. “I don’t think it’s helping, though. They’re still gaining on us.” Lance checked the data. Though he couldn’t read it, he felt like he knew what it said. Was it the lion? Did it convey things to him? He didn’t know. “These guys aren’t shooting at us. I figured they would.”

“They could be aiming to capture the lion without damaging it.” Pidge stated. She then felt the lion jerk. “Lance, what did you crash into?”

“Hey, just because I crashed the simulator a few times-”

“Every time since we started training together.”

“-doesn’t mean I crashed the lion ship thing.” Lance pushed on the controls. “Blue’s not moving.”

“I think I found out why.” Pidge was pressed against the shielding on the side, looking out and back. She then looked to the others. “These guys are sucking us in like some sort of black hole.” she reported. “They have a tractor beam! I mean, that’s bad, yes, but so cool!”

“Lance, can you get us out of this?” Hunk asked.

“I’m trying but Blue’s not budging.” Lance kept trying, but to no avail. Before long, they were pulled into the massive ship.

Captured, Lance and the others didn’t know how the enemy got into the lion, but they did and all three teenagers were detained. They were brought out and dragged up to the bridge of the alien ship, forced to their knees in front of the one in charge. Pidge was jostled especially, her backpack removed from her.

The one in charge, a commander of sorts, looked to a screen to see another face visible. “Emperor Zarkon, these three primitives were picked up in the blue lion. One of them was even flying it.” he reported. “Now that we have the lion, shall we eliminate these three?”

The emperor was silent before speaking. **“No. Bring them, along with the Champion, back to the main fleet.”**

“Yes, sire. Vrepit sa.” The commander dipped his head before the transmission was cut. He looked to another. “Make a heading for the main fleet.”

“Yes, sir.” the other confirmed.

“Now then. Which one of you primitives were flying the blue lion?” The commander eyed the others. “You were at the lion’s helm.” His gaze settled on Lance. He then knelt before them. “Tell me. Do you know where the other lions are?” No response. It was hard to tell if it was fear or pure stubbornness that kept them silent; it was most likely fear in Hunk and stubbornness in Pidge. They also didn’t know anything. “Check the tiny one’s bag.”

“Oh c’mon, I’m not tiny!” Pidge exclaimed, earning a curious look from the commander. “You’re just giant. And try not to break anything. Some of this stuff is either hard to replace or hold sentimental value.” She let out a grumble and a few profanities in another language when a soldier opened the bag and dumped out the contents. What surprised them was how much fell out and clattered onto the floor.

“You weren’t kidding with how much you had packed.” Hunk stated, his eyes wide.

“I’m amazed.” Lance stated. “But just how much peanut butter do you need? That’s three jars of it. How did you even fit that all into a backpack?”

“I’m good at playing Tetris with my stuff.” Pidge shrugged. “And you can never have too much peanut butter.”

“Sir, there appears to be a series of primitive tools, food, drinks, and some forms of primitive tech.” the soldier reported, investigating the objects. He picked up a small, wooden object. “And… whatever this is?” He looked it over. “I don’t know what it is, sir.”

“Hmm.” The commander took the object and checked it out. He pressed something on the side and got smacked in the face when it extended.

“It’s a collapsible staff.” Pidge smirked, highly amused by the outcome. “Pretty nice, isn’t it?” She realized too late that she should have kept her mouth shut. The next thing she knew, she was picked up off the ground by the front of her shirt, held at the commander’s eye level, putting her a few more feet off the ground than she was used to.

“Put him down!” Lance shouted, moving to go at the commander. He was grabbed by a robotic sentry and yanked back.

“Don’t hurt him, please!” Hunk cried out.

The commander eyed Lance and Hunk, seeing how worried they were for their friend. “It’s cute how a team looks after the smallest member.” he mused. “But that compassion will only get them killed. They will protect you… and die because of you. But not by my hands.” He then dropped Pidge, the human yelping in surprise. “Pack up the junk,” he threw the staff back down into the pile, “and have it taken back, too. A tech specialist can go over and see just what they know on this… thing.” He kicked the computer a bit. “And have these three thrown into the cell with the Champion.”

“Yes, sir.” a soldier confirmed.

The items were attempted to be put back into the bag, but they finally got Pidge to do it; the less space it took up, the better. They then confiscated the bag and took the teens elsewhere. They were brought down a hall lined with doors. Cells. They were cells for holding prisoners.

One cell was opened and the three were shoved in. “Enjoy your stay. It’ll be the only peace you have until you reach Emperor Zarkon.” The cell door was shut.

“Jerk!” Pidge shouted, the final bit of spunk she could get out. “I don’t know who these guys are… but they suck.”

“Can confirm.” Lance sighed. “You okay, Pidge?”

“Yeah.” Pidge nodded. She then turned and looked when she heard grumbling. They heard they would be in a cell with the _Champion_ , whoever that was. What they didn’t expect was to see another human. More than that, he was the pilot of the Kerberos mission.

“Holy crow! Is that Takashi Shirogane?” Lance exclaimed.

“Looks like Pidge’s thought on him being abducted was right...” Hunk was stunned.

Pidge ran over to Takashi, otherwise often called Shiro, and checked on him. She was joined by the others. “Shiro? Shiro, are you okay? Hey, wake up.”

“Huh?” Shiro opened his eyes and focused on Pidge. “M-Matt?”

“Huh?” Pidge was confused. Matt? She recalled him being the other member of the Kerberos team.


	3. Someone Got Busy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge, Hunk, and Lance found Shiro. Or rather they were captured and thrown into his cell. But someone else is ready to help them escape and get the blue lion away from the enemy.

“M-Matt?” Shiro swore he saw his friend and crewmate. The one looking down at him looked so much like Matt Holt, especially his eyes.

“Huh?” Pidge blinked in confusion. “Um… no. I’m Pidge. Pidge Gunderson.” She helped Shiro up. “Are you okay?” She then looked down, seeing his arm. Or where his arm should have been; it had been replaced with a robotic prosthetic.

“As fine as I could be.” Shiro sat up and stretched some. “Didn’t expect to fall asleep...” How could anyone sleep in an alien prison? Well, depending on how tired he was, it was understandable. “But...” He looked to the three. Humans. He wasn’t imagining it, right? This couldn’t have been a trick, right? He thought it was, especially with Pidge’s resemblance to Matt, but the fact that she outright said she wasn’t him, it seemed to tell him that they were definitely humans. “What… what happened? You guys were captured?”

“Unfortunately.” Lance admitted. “I know this isn’t the right time but… how about names. Pidge, as he said a minute ago, I’m Lance. This is Hunk.” He looked a little hopeful. “We thought you were dead. Or well… in general us on Earth did. Some like Pidge were skeptical, I guess.”

“Nice to meet you all; you seem to know me, huh?” Shiro nodded. “What happened? How did you get captured?” He looked the teens over. Casual clothing. “You clearly weren’t on a mission… unless you were living on an off planet base? Plus you’re all kids...”

“Teens.” the three corrected.

“Still kids.”

“Er… well…” Hunk looked worried. “These guys showed up on Earth… it looked like an invasion… they were searching for-”

“Voltron.” Shiro interrupted. “The Galra are looking for Voltron. Or its lions.”

“The Galra?” Lance asked. He scooted in closer when Pidge got up and moved away. “Is that who these jerks are?”

“Yeah. Blood thirsty. They love violence and death.” Shiro held onto his mechanical arm. “It’s a wonder I survived… I got separated from Matt and Commander Holt…” He shook his head. “But you guys...”

“We found a Voltron lion. On Earth.” Lance informed. “We tried to escape with it, thinking we could lure them away from home but… we got caught.”

“Oh no...” Shiro shook his head. “Even running away… it wouldn’t have helped. These guys have been conquering the universe for a long time… a thousand years? They’re ruthless...”

“So Earth can still be in trouble?” Hunk asked, worry in his eyes. “Oh no...”

“You think if we take the blue lion back, we can save Earth?” Lance inquired.

“One lion alone? Probably not.” Shiro admitted. “But… maybe all fi-huh? What is he up to?” He leaned over to look past Lance and Hunk, seeing Pidge by the door.

Pidge got busy. She had some pens in her pocket, but they weren’t your average pens. They had special tools in them and she was prying off a panel to access wires in the wall. “I’m getting us out of here. Hopefully.” Pidge responded. “I mean, I’m going to do my best. This is alien tech, so I’m kinda winging it.”

“Where did you even get the tools?” Lance asked.

“They checked my bag. Not my pockets. Never underestimate a teen with giant pockets.”

“Is he always like this?” Shiro asked.

“We only met a couple months back so…” Lance shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay, let’s see what we can do here.” Pidge mumbled as she tugged on some wires. She cut some of them, hoping she could get something done. Then the door opened. Before she could ask if she did that, Shiro grabbed her and pulled her back. In the doorway stood a soldier, shorter than the other Galrans, but still of decent height. At least taller than Pidge but that wasn’t much of a feat.

Shiro kept the three cadets behind him. “I won’t let you hurt them.” he snapped.

The soldier then held out Pidge’s backpack. He tossed it over and Pidge stepped out to catch it. “C’mon, we’re getting out of here.”

“Huh?” Shiro was confused.

The Galran looked back. “If you and the lion are taken to Zarkon, then the universe loses another bit of hope; he already has one, we can’t let him have another lion. C’mon.”

“Why should we trust you?” Shiro demanded.

“What choice do you have?”

Pidge shrugged as she put her backpack on. “He’s got a point.” she said as she got out from behind Shiro.

“Pidge...”

“It’s either take our chances with him or get taken to some jerk named Zarkon. And being called an emperor? I’ve got a feeling that it’s not in a good way.” Pidge rationalized. “Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“I wish you wouldn’t say that; we may get jinxed.” Hunk deadpanned.

“We need to go so we don’t caught; we don’t have much time.” the Galran stated. He led them out of the cell and checked up and down the hall. “This way. The blue lion is being kept in a storage bay.” As he led the way, he glanced back. “One of you can fly it, right? We can’t use an escape pod while going at hyper speed, but we can break through the storage bay and get out that way.”

“What’s this _we_ business?” Lance asked, eyebrow cocked in skepticism.

“Long story for another time.” the Galran muttered. He then stopped when a drone rounded the corner. “Vex.”

Pidge moved quick and pulled out her staff, getting it to extend. It was a wonder she didn’t hit anyone with it when she did so in the same swoop she used to smack the drone with. She knocked it to the ground, damaging.

“That thing spotted us; we need to get moving before more show up.” the Galran informed.

“Ooh, I wonder if I can work with this.” Pidge stated, picking it up and opening a side panel on it. “It’s pretty cool.”

“More moving, less tech, Pidge.” Hunk said as he picked her up under his arm and carried her. He knew she wouldn’t leave the drone behind, so he felt it would be best to just carry her as she tinkered with it.

They ran through the halls, the mysterious Galran leading them. He stopped them now and then, having them duck around corners so that sentries wouldn’t notice them. He then got them to a door. “This is it.” he said. He put his hand on the control panel, but it didn’t activate. “Huh? That’s not right.” He tried again.

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asked.

“I don’t know, it’s not working.” the Galran stated. “Damn! They must have restricted the access further.”

“Halt!” a sentry called, noticing them.

“Shit!” the Galran hissed. He drew out a blade of sorts and threw it into the sentry, downing it. He went and retrieved it. “Okay, we need to figure this out; more will show up soon.”

“Got it!” Pidge sounded excited as she let go of the drone and it hovered. As opposed to its usual red lights, its lights turned green. “Hey buddy.”

“Did he just...” The Galran was confused, even that was visible under his helmet. This was a human child. And she appeared to have reprogrammed a drone of the Galran empire. That was impressive.

“Pidge… we’re kind of in a dire situation.” Lance muttered.

“I know.” Pidge nodded. “Hey buddy, can you get us access to here?” The drone whirred and beeped before scanning the control panel. It didn’t take long for the door to finally open. “Good job!” She reached out and took the drone. “Aw, who’s a good drone? You are! Hmm, I think I should name you Rover.”

“Thanks, Rover, you saved our tails.” the Galran stated. “Now we got to go.”

Lance looked back when the alarms went off and more sentries came running. “I agree with the alien!” He ran ahead to the lion, Blue lowering its head for them and letting the five in. “Okay, that was close.”

“We’re not out of the clear yet; we still need to escape here.” the Galran stated.

“Yup. On it.” Lance worked the controls. He got the lion to move and shoot a laser of sorts at the sentries through its mouth. He then did the same on the hatch, getting it to burst open. “Okay! Now let’s get the hell out of Dodge! Good riddance!” He took off and got Blue to take off into space yet again. “Though we’ll be right back here again if we aren’t quick enough.”

“Um… guys?” Hunk leaned in and pointed ahead. “What is that?”

“A star gate?” Pidge asked.

“Where’s James Spader when you need him...” the Galran muttered. The others looked to him. “What? You’re not the only ones who know Earth media.”

“Dude, you’re going to definitely explain who you are and what’s going on to us.” Lance said. “But what do we do? Go through it? I think the lion wants to...”

“It’s either that or get captured again.” Shiro reminded.

“Fair point. Then let’s do this!” He got the lion to go through, the gate closing behind them and keeping the Galrans from following. When they came through, they found themselves in another system. Another galaxy. And no battleships in sight. “So… where are we?”

“Hmm.” The Galran checked his tech. “The Javeeno star system.” he informed.

“Okay… so… that means we’re safe?” Hunk asked.

“Hmm… in a manner of speaking. But the Galra are everywhere. For now, though, we should be fine.” The Galran nodded and removed his helmet, his cat-like ears springing from the sides of his head. He had black hair with a magenta tinge at the bottom. To the humans, he was sporting a mullet. “My name is Keith Kogane.”

“Keith. Kogane?” Lance looked skeptical. “What sort of alien is named Keith?”

“My mother wanted to call me Yurak. My father suggested Keith.” He put the helmet down and started removing his armor, showing another outfit underneath. It was armor still, but differently coloured, primarily black and blue. “My mother’s Galra. My father… is human.”

The others stared at Keith, shock on their faces. Except Pidge. She looked way too eager. “Holy crow! Your dad totally met an alien? And got busy!? That’s awesome!”

Keith was stunned by Pidge’s enthusiasm. “Is he always…

“I just met him and I get the feeling he is...” Shiro chuckled nervously.

“Pidge is a special sort.” Lance admitted.

“At least he’s not boring.” Hunk chuckled.

“Anyway,” Shiro sighed, “we should find someplace to land probably. Figure things out.”

“Um… I think Blue is way ahead of you.” Lance let go of the controls, the lion piloting itself. “Is this supposed to happen? Some sort of autopilot?” No one had the answer to that. Looking ahead, they saw they were coming in to land on a planet. And upon the planet, there was an impressive structure.

“What is that?” Hunk asked.

“It’s...” Lance heard a rumble in the back of his mind. “A castle.”

“A castle?” Keith inquired. “How does that look like a castle?”

“I don’t know, but it’s like Blue is telling me it’s a castle.” Lance responded. “I don’t know how to explain it!”

“Okay you two, cool your heads.” Shiro told them. “Either way, the lion’s landing.” He sighed. “We’ll want to be cautious. We don’t know what we’ll run into.” He then tugged on the tattered purple top he wore over a bodysuit. “Though hopefully whoever is here will have a change of clothes.”

“Hopefully.” Keith nodded, feeling sorry for Shiro. Rescued but still left in the clothing of a prisoner.

“C’mon. Let’s check things out. But remember, stay on guard.” Shiro led the way out of the lion and up to the castle. They were startled, Hunk especially, when the lion got up and roared. It seemed to have an effect on the castle since the doors opened.

“I guess that means… we go in?” Hunk asked. “I mean, this isn’t breaking and entering, right?”

“Hopefully not.” Shiro sighed. He stepped inside with the others. A light shone on them.

**“Please hold for identity scan.”** a computerized voice said to them.

“What is this place?” Shiro called up to the computer. “Why are we here?” No response. But more lights came on, leading them down a hall.

“I don’t think we’re getting an answer.” Keith sighed.

“We could. Just follow the lights.” Pidge shrugged as she walked off, following them. She yelped when Shiro pulled her back by her backpack. “What?”

“Pidge, we know nothing about this place or who we might meet; we can’t just go off wandering around some strange castle.” Shiro reminded.

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Pidge grinned and got loose. “Besides, we won’t learn anything if we just stand around here. And the lights are giving us a path. So...” She went off with Rover.

“Before you ask, yes. This is what Pidge is like; we definitely know that about him.” Hunk sighed. “He’s definitely adventurous. And curious. Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

“But satisfaction brought him back!” Pidge called back.

The others shrugged it off and followed after Pidge, though Hunk seemed the most timid about it and clung to Lance. They went through the halls, more lights leading them further and further in. And down. They went lower into the castle before finding a sort of room.

“Where are we now?” Lance asked. “Besides the castle still.” He cast Pidge a slight glare, expecting her to be a bit sassy.

“A sort of control room maybe?” Pidge suggested. She went over to a sort of console. “Huh. I wonder how it works.”

The others looked around the room, trying to figure out. “Try not to touch anything, we don’t know wha-” Too late. Pidge touched the console and got it to light up. The lights in the room came on more and two pod-like objects came up from the floor, a figure in each. “Pidge!” Shiro glared at Pidge.

“What?” Pidge held her hands up in a surrendering motion. “It did something fairly okay. I think?”

“Well… it did something.” Keith admitted.

“Please tell me they’re not dead in there.” Hunk whimpered, hiding behind Keith next. “Please tell me these aren’t alien coffins.”

“Hmm...” Lance examined one of the pods. “I wonder what this is. And who they are.” he mused. He stepped back when the one in front of opened up and showed a woman with flowing white hair that contrasted her mocha complexion beautifully. When she opened her eyes, she showed them to be blue with strange purple pupils. She had pink marks upon her cheeks and pointed, elf-like ears.

“Father!” she cried out, stumbling out of the pod. She nearly fell, but Lance caught hold of her. Every bit of this woman almost seemed human, but the others knew that she wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got distracted and didn't draw as many pictures as I hoped for this chapter. Hopefully I remember to come back and do that. Also, yes. I know. Pidge isn't wearing her backpack in the picture when Hunk picked her up. I forgot about drawing it when I did the picture and didn't want to fuss with it to fic that; it felt like too much trouble. Plus, I don't think the chapter was actually fully written by the time I drew the picture, so there's that.  
> Anyway! Another week, another chapter! And we get to meet Keith! Also, his reference was to a Stargate movie I had watched before and enjoyed. I also enjoyed showing Pidge as adventurous and curious in this fic, eager to learn and okay with trusting Keith right away to get moving. It was fun.  
> Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.  
> Until next time!


	4. Still Feeling Adventurous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ragtag group meets an alien princess where they find out a wee bit more about Voltron and finding the lions. More than that, they find out that they're meant to pilot those lions and form Voltron. What could possibly go wrong?

No one could deny this woman wasn’t human, what with her pointed ears and the pink markings on her cheeks. But she definitely looked close enough. She looked up at Lance, watching him closely. “Who are you? And where am I?”

Something in Lance’s mind clicked. He got a bit of a smile and that flirtatious gaze. Already, Pidge and Hunk grumbled a _here we go again_. “Hello.” he cooed. “I’m Lance. And you’re right here in my arms.”

“Your ears...”

“Um… yeah?”

“They’re hideous.” The woman pulled back. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Nothing’s wrong with them! They work perfectly fi-whoa!” Lance didn’t expect to be grabbed hold of, one arm twisted behind his back and his ear held onto. “Ow! Ow! Ow!”

“Who are you? Where is King Alfor!?”

Pidge and Hunk didn’t think to try and respond to those questions, but instead were amused. “Ooh, about time someone responded like that to Lance’s flirting.” Hunk mused.

“Yeah, I’m just sorry it wasn’t me.” Pidge chuckled. She and Hunk fist bumped.

“Oh c’mon! I’m being assaulted and you two are amused? Some friends you are.” Lance whined. “Can you please let go? This really hurts.”

The woman eyed the others before noticing Keith. “Galra!” She shoved Lance to the side, the poor cadet yelping in surprise. “What are you doing here?” There was rage in her eyes.

“Whoa, hey, no need to get hostile towards Keith!” Hunk yelped. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.” He shifted to shield Keith from the woman; Pidge moved to stand in front, hands on her hips as she stood her ground.

“He’s a Galran and you’re protecting him?” the woman inquired, looking stunned. “Why?”

“He helped get us free when we were captured.” Pidge informed her. “If not for him, we’d have been taking to some guy named Zarkon and lose the blue lion.”

“Blue lion?” Hearing that, it was enough to stop the alien’s anger and she was curious; perhaps she was also suspicious of them. “How do you have the blue lion?”

“We found it on Earth when the Galra showed up.” Lance got up. “Tried to escape with it. But we still got captured.” He rubbed his ear, a little upset that the alien would not only insult them but grab one of them. “But like Pidge said, Keith helped us not only get out of the cell, but back to Blue so we could escape again.”

The alien sighed. She grumbled a few things before going over to the console. “Try not to stab our backs, Galran.”

Shiro sighed. “I don’t know what you dealt with, Miss, but this one is different.” he said. “I should know a bit. I’ve been a prisoner for… um… I don’t know how long. Time is a blur...”

“You’ve been missing for around a year now.” Pidge spoke up.

“A year? Wow...” He shook his head. “Feels longer. But also not long at all...” He then looked to the woman again. “Anyway, how about we introduce ourselves, try to ease the tension. I’m Shiro. These are Keith, Hunk, Pidge, and the guy with ugly ears is Lance.”

“Hey!” Lance whined.

“I’m Princess Allura of Planet Altea.” She responded. She then looked when the other pod opened up and showed an older man with pointed ears, blue markings, and ginger hair. He called out intruders and aimed a kick at Lance, only the human dodged it. “That would be Coran, my father’s adviser and closest friend.” She went to the console. “Anyway, I need to find out what is going on. And where we are.”

“This isn’t… Altea then?” Pidge asked.

“No, it isn’t, I’m certain of that.” Allura responded. She looked up information on the console, getting a holographic screen to pop up. She was amused when Pidge watched in awe. She then looked to Keith. “Maybe the Galran knows...”

“This Galran has a name, you know.” Keith muttered. “And no. I don’t know the planet. Only the system.” He responded. “Though… Altea… that would make you Altean?”

“Of course.”

“Oh boy...”

“What is it?”

“I mean, not that I’d know by person but...” Keith looked away. “No one’s seen an Altean in a thousand years… not since Zarkon destroyed Altea.”

Allura stared in shock. Her planet was destroyed? And her people too? “No, that can’t be possible...” She shook her head.

“Princess?” Coran went over to check on her.

“Our planet… all of Father’s efforts...” Allura looked devastated. “But what about those who weren’t on planet? Many were off planet, working on efforts to unite the universe…”

Keith sighed. “It’s possible they survived.” he informed, hoping that would give her hope. “Just because no one’s seen any in a thousand years doesn’t mean they’re all gone. They could be in hiding. Only the planet being destroyed is certain.”

“See Princess?” Coran said softly. “We may not be the last.”

“But a thousand years, Coran… we’ve been asleep for a thousand years… and it sounds like Zarkon’s still alive.” Allura looked hurt as she started tearing up. She looked up when she heard squeaking in the pod she had come from. She went over and checked it, seeing four mice in there, staring up at her. She smiled softly as she knelt down and picked them up. “It looks like four more from Altea survived.”

“And I’m sure we’ll find more Alteans one day.” Coran stated.

“But what good will that do?” Allura sighed. “Even if we find more, Zarkon will only want them destroyed… and he’ll want Voltron to use against them. Against us.”

“He’s after Voltron… but why?” Shiro asked.

“Because, Voltron is the most powerful weapon in the universe.” the princess informed. “But my father made the lions that form Voltron to protect the universe. Zarkon, though...” She shook her head. “I need to start scanning for and locating the other lions.”

“Um… if I may ask?” Shiro spoke up again. “If it’s not too much… is it possible to have a change of clothes? Dressed like a prisoner...”

“Oh my! Of course!” Coran perked up as he moved over to Shiro, pushing him along to the door. “We’ll get right on that. The rest of you can go up to the bridge with the Princess.”

“Even the Galran?” Allura asked.

“Okay… this is getting annoying.” Pidge grumbled. “So what if he’s a Galran? But he did good for us. He helped us when we needed it. He made escape easier for us. And he told us he was half human, the same species we are. Not that it actually matters, bur I’m going to believe that.” She looked frustrated. “I get it. You’re ticked off for whatever the Galra did. And I’m getting the feeling that many are bad. But just like not every human on Earth is good, I’m certain not every Galran out here is bad. So if you’re gonna be prejudice against him, keep it to yourself!”

Allura stared in shock. She then looked to the others who glanced away. They weren’t getting in the temperamental teen’s way when ripping into an alien princess.

“Princess,” Coran looked back, “we used to once be allied with the Galrans. Perhaps, with those who wish to help, we can be allied again. And through this lad, Keith was it, we can try once more.”

“I… I suppose...” Allura looked nervous.

“I understand it may take time, Princess.” Keith said. “But I’ll be patient. And do my best to prove I’m not your enemy.”

“I’ll… do my best, too.” Allura was skeptical, but she knew she had to try. “Anyway, with me. We’ll go up to the bridge and locate the other lions.” On the bridge, she called forth a holographic map of the universe, amazing the others, even Keith who was used to some of the tech and wonders of other races.

“Hmm?” Pidge examined the location of two lions. “Huh. It looks like the blue and black lions are in the same location.”

“Quite perceptive, Pidge.” Allura declared. “Indeed. In fact, the black lion is right here in the castle. However, we need the four others in order to unlock it.”

“Unlock it?” Hunk asked.

“Correct.” Allura nodded. “My father locked the lion away in the castle. The black lion is the head of Voltron, the most important part.” She looked over when she heard Coran and Shiro enter, Shiro wearing a new set of clothes that was better to wear than the prisoner garb. “It’s the leader of the lions.”

“So… you need to find pilots for them, right?” Shiro asked. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Well, yes and no.” Allura stated. “The lions pick their pilots, or paladins as we call them. And the blue lion clearly chose it’s paladin in one of you.” Her eyes settled on Lance.

“Must’ve known I was the best pilot.” Lance smirked, proud of himself.

“Or was desperate.” Pidge grumbled.

Allura covered her mouth a bit, stifling the laugh. “Anyway, the others will need paladins, too. And I know who can rise to the occasion.” She smiled at the group, even Keith. “All five of you.”

“Um… what? Us?” Keith looked confused.

“I’m not… a pilot.” Hunk raised his hand.

“Is that even possible?” Pidge inquired.

“Princess, what do you mean?” Shiro asked.

“I can sense each of your qualities.” Allura informed. “You see, each lion has a certain quintessence and quality to them, and each of you match a lion. The blue lion connected with Lance already. Next we have the black lion. The paladin must be a decisive leader, easily in control. Where he goes, the others follow.” She smiled at Shiro. “You, Shiro, are such leader.”

“Then there is the yellow lion. Gentle. Protective. The yellow lion is the left leg of Voltron, always supporting the team.” Allura continued. “Hunk, you are the right one to pilot the yellow lion.” Hunk looked so unsure. “The green lion takes a paladin who is inquisitive and daring. A paladin of intelligence.” Before she could point anyone out, the four guys Pidge was with looked to her, even motioning to her. “Actually, yes, that’s who I was going to say. How did you guess him?”

“We may not have known him long, some of us longer than others, but he is an adventurous genius.” Lance admitted.

“He even was already working on escaping before I showed up and somehow reprogrammed a Galran drone on the go and with limited tools.” Keith added.

“Let’s not forget him building his own computer and picking up on alien radio chatter and the blue lion’s signal.” Hunk pointed out.

“Pidge is the definite choice for that.” Shiro finished up.

“Looks like your team knows you rather well, Pidge.” Allura chuckled a bit. “And finally we have the red lion. Fierce and unstable, the fastest of the lions. Its paladin follows instinct more than skill alone.” She looked to Keith. “Keith… I know I’ve not been kind but I cannot deny this. You are meant to be the red lion’s paladin.”

Allura worked with the map, finding the coordinates to the lions. Or at least to two others. “There’s a problem, though. While I can find the yellow and green lions… I can’t locate the red one.” She sighed. “A thousand years, well… I guess the castle needs a little care to get things going better.”

“I think I can help you with that.” Keith stated. “My mother told me before that the lion had already been found by the empire. And it’s on the ship of one Commander Sendak.”

“Commander Sen… oh quiznak...” Allura didn’t look pleased. “And you wouldn’t happen to know where he is?”

“I can find out if you let me contact my group.” Keith informed. “As bad as Zarkon and many other Galra are, there are good ones out there, too. And we’re rebels, using our appearances to blend in with the empire and collect information to take them down from the inside.”

As much as the princess didn’t like the idea of contacting more Galra, she honestly hoped it wouldn’t bite them back. “If you can get that information, then I would appreciate it.” she said. “But I hope you won’t tell them too much information… such as our location. I don’t want the risk.”

“Of course, Princess.” Keith nodded. “Only what’s necessary.”

“Which is?”

“That we need the red lion to form Voltron. That is all.”

“I will allow that.” Allura nodded.

“Now that we’ve got that settled, we need to get the other two lions.” Shiro spoke up. “Lance can use the blue lion but...”

“We have transport ships in the bay.” Coran spoke up. “They should still be functional. And I can give the coordinates to give you all the locations and to track the lions’ exact locations.”

“I can open wormholes, too, to help out. But they can only be open for about a couple of vargas, so you’ll need to be quick.” Allura stated. “They’ll get you to the locations.”

“What’s… vargas?” Hunk asked.

“A varga roughly equates to an hour.” Keith translated. “It’s a common method of time used by several races in the universe.”

“Anyway, we need to go out and get the other lions. Then come up with how we’ll get the red one from Sendak.” Shiro stated. “Pidge and I will head out to the green lion. Lance, you take Hunk to get the yellow one.”

“Yes, sir.” Lance nodded.

“Then let’s do this.” Coran nodded. “Good thing those planets are also peaceful. If anything goes wrong, they’d be relaxing places to live out the rest of your lives.” He walked off to get them situated.

“Wait… what?” Lance asked.

“Dude…” Hunk whined.

“Still feeling adventurous?” Shiro inquired.

“I’ve got this!” Pidge declared, running after Coran.

“Where does he get that energy?” Shiro was dumbstruck.

“All that junk food in his bag, I’d assume.” Keith responded, an amused smirk playing on his lips.


	5. Form Voltron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The others are off to locate and collect the lions. But that's the easy part. The next thing to work on is forming Voltron.

As adventurous as Pidge was, she still got startled. Of course, if a six and a half foot tall, bipedal sloth was suddenly standing next to you without you expecting it, you’d probably be startled, too. Pidge was indeed surprised to where she climbed onto Shiro, clinging to his back and shoulders, and hiding. However, it was a friendly creature and let them onto its boat; it was taking them to where the green lion was.

As they sat in the boat, Pidge was rambling, unsure about things. It was almost amusing and Shiro felt that the behaviour was familiar. His friend and crewmate did the same thing when nervous. There was no silencing Matt. Listening to and seeing Pidge, Shiro kept thinking about his friend. He missed Matt; he had no idea where the other human was or how he was doing. Was he still alive even? He hoped so.

A memory came back to him. When they were captured and imprisoned, they had talked about many things to try and comfort themselves and each other. _I have siblings back on Earth._ He remembered those words. _Dad adopted me when I was about seven after my parents died in an accident._ It was tragic, but that was life. And though sad at losing his parents, Matt was thankful to be adopted. _All I know is that they were expecting twins; ultrasounds showed to be one boy and one girl._

Matt had twin siblings he never met for they were adopted. Could Pidge then have been the younger brother?

“Hmm?” Pidge glanced back. “You’re kind of staring. Is something wrong?” She felt her head. “Did someone stick gum in my hair again?”

“No, no.” Shiro shook his head. “Hey Pidge… what do you know about your family?”

“My family?” Pidge asked. She shrugged and turned to face forward again. “Not much really. Only that I was adopted when I was just a baby. Though single, Mom adopted and raised me well. She didn’t know anything about my family prior. So...”

“So no siblings?”

“Nope. I’m an only child.” She looked back again. “Why?”

“Just curious.”

Pidge wasn’t buying it. Something was off. “Does it have to do with Matt?” Shiro stiffened. “You called me Matt when we met...”

“You just look a lot like him.” Shiro admitted with a smile. “Especially the eyes.”

“Hmm.” Pidge grunted a bit. She then looked ahead when she felt the boat stop. “Oh… I guess we’re here.” She and Shiro departed, waving to the sloth as they walked off. They then continued on, heading towards what appeared to be a temple covered in vines. “What if… the lion doesn’t accept me after all? What if Allura’s wrong? Just because she’s a princess doesn’t mean she’s always right.”

“You know, Commander Holt always told me that _if you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great_.” Shiro informed the small teen. He looked around as the carvings around the area started glowing. Perhaps in response to Pidge? “Go on, Pidge. Do something great.”

Pidge smiled, Shiro’s words and the glowing carvings bringing her hope. She then looked to the mound of vines on top of the temple. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt something calling for her. She ran off, quickly going up the steps of the temple and then climbing the vines, Rover, who she brought with her, following after and beeping with joy.

Pidge was quick to move up, getting on top of the mound. Once on top, she looked around. She then looked down and smiled. The green lion was within the mound and it felt like it was calling out to her. “Okay! Let’s do this, Rover! Yahoo!” She jumped down. A little panicked at first, Rover beeped then followed after her. Pidge jumped down from vine to vine, the plants thick and intertwined enough to support her weight. She got down to the green lion inside the mound and grinned.

“Hello, Green!” she greeted when she landed on the head. “Now then, you gonna let me in?” Stretching the vines, the lion opened its mouth. It was as though it was welcoming her. “Oh hell yeah!” She got around and into the lion, working her way to the cockpit. She sat down and smiled, surprised at how natural it felt. “Ready Rover? Green? Let’s do this.”

There was good news and bad news. The good news was that they were able to locate Sendak’s ship with the help of Keith’s rebel contacts. The bad news was that Sendak had his sights set on Arus, the planet the others were on and planned to attack. However, they were able to work out a plan so they could get the red lion.

It was risky, but they were as prepared as they could be. Mostly.

Allura set them up with armor, each corresponding with the lion they do or would pilot. Amusingly, Keith’s helmet adapted to his cat-like ears, showing cat ears on top. No one could deny it was cute. But it wasn’t the only thing apparently cute.

They were given bayards, weapons that go with their lions. The only one missing was the black bayard; it went missing along with it’s paladin a thousand years ago. Shiro was sure he could manage and improvise; if all else failed, he joked that he could take Pidge’s collapsible staff.

“Oh?” Lance spotted the form Pidge’s bayard took, the weapon small and pointed, much like a katar in style. “Look that that. You’ve got a cute bayard.” he teased his friend.

Pidge scowled. Then she jabbed the weapon into Lance’s side and actually electrocuted him with it. “Yeah, it is cute.”

“Okay, team,” Shiro spoke up, “let’s get to work. Hunk, Lance, you two keep Sendak distracted as long as you can.”

“Copy that.” Hunk nodded.

“We’ve got this!” Lance assured.

“Stay clear of the tractor beam; that’s what screwed us over before.” Pidge reminded.

“Got it.” Lance confirmed.

Pidge went to the green lion with Keith, Shiro, and, of course, Rover. She flew them to the underside of Sendak’s ship that was going towards Arus. They sneaked in.

But seeing the inside of the ship, Shiro realized something. He had been there before.

“So it’s possible that Commander Holt and Matt could be here, right?” Pidge asked. “We need to go save them.” She started to run off, but Shiro grabbed her by the back of her armor.

“Pidge, we don’t have time.” Shiro looked hurt to say it, but he felt he had a point. “We need to get the red lion and get out.”

“And then what? Form Voltron and destroy the ship?” Pidge asked. “They could be here. Other prisoners could be here. And if we destroy the ship, we’ll kill them, too.” She definitely had a point.

“Pidge...” Shiro didn’t know how to go about the situation.

“Go with him.” Keith told the black paladin.

“What?” Shiro was shocked.

“Your arm is Galra tech and Pidge has a drone; doors won’t be a problem for you. And I’m Galran and know these ships well.” Keith stated. “We’ll cover ground splitting up; you get the prisoners out of here, I’ll get Red.” He brought up some data and transferred it over to Pidge. “You’ll find the escape pods with that.”

“Thanks, Keith!” Pidge smiled brightly.

“Thanks. And good luck, Keith.” Shiro nodded thankfully to his fellow paladin.

“Yeah, I mean, how hard can it be to find a giant red cat, right?” Keith joked.

“Well, remember to be patient.” Shiro informed. “Patience yields focus.” He then ran off with Pidge as Keith ran off to find his lion. Shiro led the way through the ship, getting them to the cell holding. “We need to find where they were; there are typically multiple cells. Sometimes prisoners are grouped together...” They checked the cells, finally finding one with prisoners. When they opened the cell, there was a group of prisoners huddled together, looking even more afraid as the door opened.

“Matt? Commander Holt?” Shiro called into the cell. He sighed. They weren’t there. But others were and they needed help. “C’mon. We’re getting you out of here.” He was astonished when they wouldn’t budge. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“We can trust him.” one prisoner, an older looking alien, spoke to the others. “This is the Champion; we can trust him to help us.”

“Huh? Champion?” Shiro inquired.

“Shiro, I checked the other cells.” Pidge reported. “There aren’t others in other cells; this is the only group.”

“Right.” Shiro nodded. “C’mon. Let’s get you out of here.” Hesitant at first, the others finally got up and followed after the two paladins. Pidge led them to where the escape pods were, thankful for Keith’s shared data. There was one small snag. Sentries showed up. “Pidge! Get them on board and sent to the castle!”

“What about you?” Pidge asked.

“I’ll manage!” Shiro ran at the sentries, hoping to keep the back. What he didn’t expect was his arm to appear to activate something. A weapon. It was no sword or gun, or even a katar, like his teammates, but it was better than nothing and he knew he could then fight those sentries. And he did. While Pidge, with Rover’s help, got the prisoners on the pod and sent down to the castle, he took out the sentries.

“Holy shit.” Pidge stared wide eyed when Shiro was done and the prisoners were safe.

“Language.” Shiro reprimanded.

“That is so cool! How did you do that!?” Pidge was excited and jumped over, grabbing his arm. “This is some anime awesomeness!”

“Pidge, we need to get going, we can talk about my arm another time.” Shiro stated. “Keith? What’s your status?”

**“I just launched myself out of a cargo bay.”**

“WHAT?!”

“Yeet.”

“Pidge...”

**“But Red got my back. We’re out and ready to return to Arus.”**

“Copy that, we’ll get back to the green lion.” Shiro confirmed. He then swooped Pidge up, carrying her under his arm so he could run off faster, Rover right behind them.

The black lion. Not only did they get it released, it accepted Shiro. As easy as that was, forming Voltron was not so easy. Allura and Coran were able to get the castle’s particle barrier, the castle’s protective measures, up and running. But it wouldn’t hold Sendak’s weapons for very long, especially the ion cannon. They had to form Voltron, but the five paladins didn’t know anything about that.

**“Combine!”** Hunk shouted as he rammed the yellow lion into the red one.

**“Hey!”**

**“Okay, that didn’t work...”** In sync with Hunk’s tone, the lion lowered its head.

**“Paladins, you need to hurry; our barrier won’t last much longer and we’re losing power!”** Allura announced to them.

“That’s easier said than done, we’re kinda new to this.” Pidge exclaimed. She looked to Rover who hovered next to her. “You got any ideas?” Rover beeped, the tone low and long.

**“That drone sounded super sullen.”** Lance pointed out.

**“So the drone doesn’t have an idea then.”** Shiro responded. **“Okay. We need to try something. Maybe flying in formation will trigger Voltron. Take off on my cue. Three. Two. One. Voltron!”**

They tried to fly in formation, but nothing was happening. When they thought they were feeling something, they realized that they had been caught in a tractor beam. Damn. And Pidge even warned Hunk and Lance of that after their initial encounter and capture.

They had to do something before Sendak could capture them.

**“Team, we can’t give up. We can’t let Sendak and the rest of the empire win.”** Shiro told them. **“I know it seems impossible, but we have to focus. We have to work together for the good of the castle. Of Arus. Of the universe. Of… of Earth! If we’re going to one day go home and save Earth, we need to stand strong and finally form Voltron.”** He was determined; he didn’t want to give up and he was sure the others didn’t either. **“Are you with me?”**

**“I’ve got your back.”** Keith confirmed.

**“Ten-four, buddy!”** Lance chimed.

**“Let’s do this!”** Hunk shouted.

“We’ve got this!” Pidge cheered, Rover happily beeping beside her.

They managed to break free of the tractor beam. They flew off in their lions, sticking to their formation. Then it happened. They came together to form the massive robotic warrior. They formed Voltron.

“We did it! We actually did it!” Pidge cried out with joy.

**“How did… holy crow!”** Lance was so excited, he could hardly get the words out.

**“I’m a leg!”** Hunk called out.

**“I can’t believe this!”** Even Keith was ecstatic.

**“Okay, team, let’s take out that ion cannon and take down the ship.”** Shiro instructed. The others were in agreement. It seemed impossible for five people, some of which strangers to each other, were able to work together to control the robot, but they found they could. They worked together in sync, very few orders being given.

They were able to attack the ship enough and take it down, getting it to crash further away from the castle and in what seemed to be an uninhabited area. The ship was down and Arus was safe. The castle was safe. Voltron was safe. And back in the battle to keep the universe safe.

“Good work, Paladins.” Allura praised when she and Coran went to greet the others when they separated and returned. She noticed Keith’s ears twitch a bit as he looked down. “You, too, Keith. You’re as much of a paladin as the others. And without you, we would have struggled more.” She smiled. “You even helped out, going off on your own for the red lion so that Shiro and Pidge could help those in need.”

Keith smiled. “I’m glad to help. And I’m happy to be a part of this team.” he said. He was happy to hear that Allura had seemed to accept him, and it didn’t even seem to be out of reluctance. To the half-Galran, it was a good sign.

“Man! That was a trip.” Lance cheered as he removed his helmet. “How did we even do it?”

“Dunno. But I was yelling a lot.” Hunk pried his helmet off. “Maybe that helped?” Lance chuckled in response and playfully slugged him in the arm.

“Shiro… what about your crew? Were they...” Keith looked worried.

“No… they weren’t there.” Shiro sighed.

“We’re bound to find them.” Pidge assured. “You survived, I’m sure they’re alive out there, too. And we’ll find them.”

“We will.” Shiro nodded in agreement. “Just as we’ll return to Earth one day and save it.” The paladins were in agreement to that.

“Then it’s a good thing you know what you’re doing now.” Coran informed as he messed with his mustache. “After all, you’ll have to form Voltron again and again.”

“Oh… right...” Hunk nodded. “That.”

“Man… and we barely survived this one time.” Lance sighed.

“And it was only one ship you had to go against.” Coran reminded. “You’ll be going against whole fleets!” The others were stunned at that. Fleets. Just like what attacked Earth, too. “It won’t be easy being defenders of the universe.”

“Defenders of the universe?” Shiro asked. He looked to his team, the group smiling and nodding. It was surprising, but they were fond of the idea. “Heh. Kind of has a nice ring to it.” He held out his hand. “What do you say guys? Continue as a team? Defend not only our loved ones but also the universe?”

“Right with you, Shiro.” Keith nodded and put his hand on Shiro’s.

“Don’t count me out, I’ve got this team’s back.” Lance assured.

“It’s kind of scary but… I’m with you. I’ll do what I can to help.” Hunk added.

“And let’s kick a-” Rover landed on Pidge’s hand and beeped, cutting her off. It got the others to laugh in response. They were a team. Not just in name, but in spirit.

“Princess?” Coran looked to Allura when she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m better than okay.” she said. “This. This is what my father would have wanted. He would be so proud to see the new paladins.”

“He’d be proud to see you, too.” Coran reminded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The final chapter of Forces Assemble. I know it's shorter, but it pretty much just covered the first episode of canon.  
> But don't worry, the series doesn't end here. For those who haven't read it, the next part is up already and is A Meeting of Forces. For those who have, don't worry, next week I'll start uploading the next installment, Rebel Forces! The story continue!  
> Anyway! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!  
> Until next time!


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